The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Section 2008, "Demonstration Projects to Address Health Professions Workforce Needs," page 547, signed into law on Mar. 23, 2010, available at the Library of Congress website, states:

(b) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT TO DEVELOP TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS FOR PERSONAL OR HOME CARE AIDES.—

(1) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities that are States to conduct demonstration projects for purposes of developing core training competencies and certification programs for personal or home care aides."

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance stated in an Aug. 22, 2012 posting "Affordable Care Act (ACA) Personal and Home Care Aide State Training Program (PHCAST)," available at www.cfda.gov:

"Authorization (040):

Section 2008 (b) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 5507 (b) of the Affordable Care Act; and section 4002 of the Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148.

Objectives (050):

To train individuals as qualified personal and home care aides to provide care in complex health care environments such as home healthcare services, residential care facilities, and private households. Grants will be made to State entities to conduct demonstration projects for purposes of developing core training competencies and certification programs for personal and home care aides. The program helps to ensure that we have competent personal and home care aides with acquired skills that would be transportable to any job market in the Nation, thus strengthening the direct-care worker workforce...

Uses and Use Restrictions (070):

Infrastructure training grants are awarded to eligible applicant organizations for projects to strengthen and enhance the capacity of personal and home care aide training programs. This will enable individuals to enter into a personal and/or home care aide position. Funds may be used for the development, evaluation, and demonstration of training programs for personal and/or home care aides on-campus, at alternate sites, and through distance education methodologies."

The Institute on Aging stated on its webpage "Personal and Home Care Aide State Training Program (PHCAST)," available at its website (accessed Oct. 8, 2012):

"The PHCAST [Personal and Home Care Aide State Training Program] Project was created as part of the Affordable Care Act. It is a three-year demonstration program to develop core competencies, pilot training curricula, and establish certification programs for personal and home care aides. A total of $4.2 million was awarded to California, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, and North Carolina. The six states that are participating in the three-year PHCAST Program are expected to train over 5,100 personal home care aides by 2013."

CON (no)

[Editor's Note: Based upon a neutral reading of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and bi-partisan third party analysis, this question seems to have a clear and obvious Pro (yes) answer, and ProCon.org has therefore presented the responses in a single column with no opposing perspective.]